Forbes highlights properties on Aspen’s Red Mountain

ASPEN – The pricey real estate and well-heeled residents of Red Mountain near Aspen receive star treatment in an early December online story and an upcoming print issue of Forbes magazine.In a Dec. 5 online article titled “Meet Aspen’s Billionaire Mountain,” Forbes describes Aspen as a place that “has long been up to its waist in both snow and dough.” It mentions that the city got its start “pulling silver from the ground” but now “has become especially skilled at yanking platinum cards from overstuffed wallets.”But the story, which will appear in the magazine’s Dec. 24 print edition, has a particular bent toward Red Mountain, whose phone book “reads like a Davos VIP list.” Davos, a ski resort in Switzerland, is an official Aspen sister city.”Divided into Upper and Lower, the area has generated most of Aspen’s highest-dollar transactions for two years running, including hedge funder John Paulson’s $49 million Hala Ranch buy in June,” the article by Morgan Brennan states.Joshua Saslove, of real estate firm Joshua & Co., is quoted in the story as saying that Red Mountain is the cornerstone of residential real estate in the community.The story provides a listing of some of the mountain’s ultra-rich residents, by street. This list is not inclusive of all the billionaires listed in the article.• Willoughby Way: Lewis Sanders, CEO of Sanders Capital, bought a 10-bedroom home on 4.5 acres for $43 million in cash in 2009; notable neighbors include Miguel and Jackie Bezos, parents of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose home is valued at $20 million; real estate magnate Matthew Bucksbaum, who lives in a $16 million house on 3.4 acres; and hedge funder Daniel Och, who has a $20.3 million mansion on Lower Red Mountain and sold his 8,500-square-foot Upper Red Mountain home in May for $12.2 million.• Ranch Road: Retail billionaire Leslie Wexner has two parcels of property totaling 65 acres valued at $31.4 million. His 25,400-square-foot mansion has five beds and 14 bathrooms.• Hunter Creek Road: Bren Simon, widow of Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group, has a 10,330-square-foot ski house, with six beds and nine baths on 5.4 acres. It is valued at $15.5 million.• East Reds Road: Oil billionaire Sid Bass has a $7.4 million house with three bedrooms and five bathrooms.• West Reds Road: Alex and Lorraine Dell, parents of Dell Computer founder and CEO Michael Dell, have an 8,520-square-foot house with four beds and six baths on 1 acre. It is valued at $10.5 million.• Red Mountain Road: Venture capital billionaire John Doerr has a 43-acre compound along Hunter Creek. Valued at $12.7 million, it includes an 8,600-square-foot abode with five bedrooms and five bathrooms.• Ridge Road: Stan and Ann Walton Kroenke own a $20.75 million home that represents one of the highest local real-estate sales of 2011. It comprises adjacent properties with an 11,300-square-foot main house, a 4,200-square-foot guesthouse and a 1,600-bottle wine cellar. Stan is the owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which includes the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and Colorado Mammoth sports teams, as well as the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. Ann is a Wal-Mart heiress.• Wrights Road: Real estate billionaire Mortimer Zuckerman paid $9.5 million in 2009 for a home currently valued at $8.3 million. Aspen architect Charles Cunniffe designed the 7,100-square-foot, four-bedroom house, which sits on less than 1 acre.• Pitkin Way: Candy billionaire William Wrigley Jr. has property valued at $38.4 million. His multiparcel, 2.6-acre family compound includes 12,600 square feet of living space.